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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28351452">Council of Juno</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/messy_spammy_18/pseuds/messy_spammy_18'>messy_spammy_18</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:00:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,106</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28351452</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/messy_spammy_18/pseuds/messy_spammy_18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Percy and Jason meet before the events of Heroes of Olympus. Hera/Juno brings them together and goes over the plan before taking both of their memories. Also a little bit of PercyBeth at the beginning.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Council of Juno</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Percy was sure this was going to be the best summer of his life. He no longer had to worry about his impending death ever since the Titan Kronos was returned to Tartarus. Not being in mortal danger is a low bar to clear, but it was a world of difference to Percy. For the first time, he felt free. The weight of the world neither metaphorically nor literally rested on his back. Even the streak of gray hair had regained its black pigment.</p><p>“Right Percy?”</p><p>Percy snapped back to reality. Everyone around the campfire was looking at him expectantly. Up until that moment, one of the Hephaestus campers had been eagerly reciting a story. Not a good time to have zoned out. Oops.</p><p>“Uh… yeah”</p><p>He felt someone squeeze his hand and looked to his right. His beautiful, smart, and lovely girlfriend stared back, but something in her storm gray eyes made his body flush his embarrassment, was that not the right thing to say?</p><p>“So, it’s true you don’t wash your feet in the shower?” she said with a wry smile.</p><p>Percy’s brain stalled. He imagined his airplane mind slowly slipping backward and down, plummeting to the earth.</p><p>Annabeth burst out laughing and the other campers joined with her. “Ha! Don’t think too hard seaweed brain, you’ll blow a gasket!” She leaned over and pecked his cheek.</p><p>Percy couldn’t help but smile back at her.</p><p> </p><p>As the hours passed the other campers gradually left until it was only Percy and Annabeth left. They sat close, content simply to hold one another. They talked about their plans for the upcoming school year and Percy felt a twinge of longing. They would be apart for 9 months. He gave her a squeeze and buried his face in her shoulder. He screwed his eyes shut and willed himself to lock this moment in his memory forever. Annabeth returned his squeeze and kissed the top of his head. They sat like that a little while longer, sweetly ignorant of months that would pass before they could do it again.</p><p>Annabeth broke away and yawned. “I should really get some rest. Olympus isn’t going to rebuild itself you know.” Percy smiled and they held hands as they walked back to Athena's cabin. She bid him goodnight and gave him another peck on the cheek.</p><p>When Percy turned to leave, he spotted a light flash in the woods behind the cabin. The hair on his arms stood on end and he clenched his jaw. He walked toward the place where the light had been moments ago. His hand on his pen. “Hello?”</p><p>A middle-aged woman stepped out of the brush. “Finally! I thought that girl would never leave.”</p><p>“Hera?!” Percy said, astonished. Hera was the goddess of love and marriage, and Zeus's wife. Since everyone at camp half-blood was a bastard child of one of the gods, it made sense that Hera hated them, but she had a special grudge against Percy and Annabeth. She gave him a disdainful look. Her nose wrinkled and her lip curled. She looked at him like a piece of moldy cheese. For having the word “blue” in the name Percy always thought he would like blue cheese, but tasting it left him gaging over a trash can. That feeling returned to his stomach and he grimaced.</p><p>“Percy Jackson.” She said in a tight staccato. “It is time to put differences aside. Old enemies must become friends. If you want to prevent the United States from entering into another civil war you will aid me in what I need to do.”</p><p>Percy was all for saving the world, but he didn’t like the way Juno was ordering him around. “I’ll help, but-“ Hera nodded and grabbed his arm. A bright light began to glow as the goddess returned to her true form. Percy quickly turned his head and closed his eyes, so his brain didn’t melt like ice cream on a hot day.</p><p>Percy began to protest, but when he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the woods outside of camp half-blood. He was in a small apartment, and it was no longer the dead of night, rather it was sunset. <em>Had they traveled back in time?</em> Percy looked around the apartment. The best way to describe it would be “modest”. There weren’t many decorations, but everything was clean and tidy. It was nothing like his mother’s flat in New York. There, everything was a little worn, the cups had cracks and the carpet had stains. Here the walls were too white, and the stove looked as though something hadn’t boiled over a thousand times. It made Percy uncomfortable. He wrenched his arm away from the goddess, “Hey! You can’t just kidnap me. You came asking for <em>my</em> help. I want to know what is going on.”</p><p>Hera gave him an annoyed look. Maybe if she stared hard enough his hair would catch fire. “The fact of the matter is Percy.” She tilted her head back and looked at him down her nose. He was glad that he was the same height as her so she couldn't lean over him. He clenched his teeth and stared right into her eyes; he wasn’t going to let her intimidate him. She tapped his chest, “You have a compulsion to save those you love, so you are going to do exactly as I say because that is the only way you can protect them.”</p><p>Percy felt hot with anger. He was tired of the gods ordering him around, but what frustrated him the most was the utter lack of leverage he had. She was a god, it wasn’t like getting an edge on her would be easy, or even possible. He thought of Annabeth and took a calming breath. “Fine. What do you want me to do?” She smiled, which reminded Percy of the wicked witch of the west. <em>I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!</em> Just then the doorknob of the flat rattled as someone started to unlock it. Percy’s hand instinctively shot to the pen that was his sword Riptide. Hera turned her back to Percy and put a hand on her hip. For some reason, it reminded Percy of his mom, but he quickly shook that thought away. Seeing her relaxed stance, Percy forced himself to take his hand off of the pen and stand up straight. A boy entered. He was as tall as Percy, but there was a softness about him that betrayed his youth. His body had not yet grown to the sharp lines that Percy’s had, but his demeanor made him seem more mature. <em>Or maybe that is just because he wears glasses. Would Annabeth think I look good in glasses? Focus Percy!</em></p><p>He gave a slight wave. “Hello.”</p><p>The boy started but quickly regained composure. “Hello?” his eyes flicked to Hera questioningly, but she remained silent. He glanced back at Percy and sized him up. Percy inhaled and puffed up a bit. He felt an innate need to one-up the boy. The intense feeling of competition surprised Percy, but it felt natural. The boy seemed satisfied with his initial glance at Percy and shut the door. Percy noticed a tattoo on the inside of his wrist but couldn’t make it out. <em>Maybe I do need glasses?</em></p><p>Hera gestured to the dinner table, “let’s sit down, there is a lot to discuss.”</p><p>***</p><p>Hera sat at the head of the table and the two boys sat across from one another in the adjacent seats.</p><p>            “My name is Jason Grace.”</p><p>            “Percy Jackson.”</p><p>They shook hands and Percy got a better look at the tattoo. It was an eagle above the letters SPQR with a few lines underneath. He wished that Annabeth was here, she would know what it meant.</p><p>            Hera cleared her throat, “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way. We can get down to business. There are two camps for half-bloods one Greek-” she looked at Percy, “and one Roman” she looked at Jason.</p><p>Both boys stood up suddenly and shouted, “What?!” The Goddess gave them a glare that could probably peel paint off the walls. They both sat back down.</p><p>“These two camps have been forced apart because, historically, they always try to destroy each other. This feud fueled the bloodiest war in American history, the Civil War. History will repeat itself if you two don’t stop it.”</p><p>Percy glanced at the boy sitting across from him. Jason seemed to be taking everything very well. It was the only reason Percy hadn’t interjected. The rivalry he felt with Jason, which was explained by the Greek-Roman thing, stopped him from shouting and being too unruly. He didn’t want to lose to the blonde.</p><p>“You two are the respective leaders of the two camps. I want to clear your memories and introduce you to the opposite camp so you can gain their trust. Your memories will gradually come back at which point the two of you can meet and create peace.”</p><p>Percy screwed his eyebrows together. “I don’t get it. If things have been working out so well with the two camps separate why do you suddenly want us to come together?”</p><p>Jason nodded his head, a bit peeved at how quickly Percy had seen through Juno’s plan. He hadn't even thought of the question, but he had to keep up, he was not going to look stupid in front of a Greek. “Something bad is going to happen. Something terrible enough that only both camps working in tandem can defeat it?”</p><p>Hera pressed her lips together tightly and stayed silent. Jason and Percy looked at one another. Percy felt uneasy entrusting the safety of his friends with him, but he was sure that Jason was thinking the same thing.</p><p>Percy stood. “Fine.” He gave Jason a pointed look, “I’m trusting you. Take good care of my friends.”</p><p>Jason stood and the boys met eye to eye, “I could say the same to you.” They shook hands again, sealing their pact.</p><p>Hera stood up, “Alright boys, who will go first?”</p><p>Jason opened his mouth, but Percy spoke faster. “I’ll go.”</p><p>***</p><p>Percy sat on the edge of the bed and stared down at the goddess standing in front of him. “I want to keep my memories of Annabeth.”</p><p>The goddess loomed over him, Percy could have sworn that her eyes softened for a moment, but she seemed as steely as ever. “I’m the goddess of love and marriage. You will not be cheating on your girlfriend because of me.”</p><p>She gently touched a finger to his forehead. Percy squeezed his eyes shut. It felt like his mind was doing somersaults while the rest of his body stayed still. The spinning got faster and faster until everything went dark.</p><p>Jason watched as Juno tenderly placed a hand behind Percy’s neck and lowered his sleeping form onto the bed. She stared at the boy for a moment and delicately brushed a stray hair out of his face. Her eyes almost looked- apologetic? A pang of jealousy shot through Jason. He knew she would never show him that affection, but it was just how their relationship was. He always told himself that he understood, but it couldn’t make him yearn for parental affection any less. Juno started to get up and Jason moved from his position in the doorway. He walked over to the couch and sat down with his hands between his knees. He wanted to hide his sweating palms and trembling fingers. He mentally chastised his body for betraying the fear that he was desperately pushing down.</p><p>Juno entered the living room and stood in front of Jason. He looked up at her, ice in his blue eyes. “The Romans will know what he is instantly, and that is if he even makes it to the camp. What makes you think he can survive Lupa?”</p><p>Juno looked down at the boy. She looked older, wearier. “He will survive.” She sat on the coffee table and placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “It doesn’t give me any joy to send children to fight in the wars of the gods. You are my husband’s child. Like it or not you are my family, and I will protect you. That goes for and all of the half-bloods.”</p><p>Jason nodded. Being roman meant being logical and with no emotion. He felt his hands rest motionless on his thighs. His heartbeat steadily in his chest. “I’m ready.”</p><p>The goddess stood and placed her finger against his forehead. “Gods be with you, Jason Grace.”</p>
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